


Don't Hate You That Much

by randomfandomimagine



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Broken Bones, Canon Compliant, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Love/Hate, Other, Sharing Clothes, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-06-30 10:23:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomfandomimagine/pseuds/randomfandomimagine
Summary: Y/N realizes Dustin has been hanging out with Steve Harrington, and as the older sibling, wants to protect him from Steve's bad influence. Or so it seemed, because as Y/N gets involved in their endeavor, Steve doesn't seem such a bad guy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some more Steve love because I love that nerd. Kudos, comments and feedback in general are greatly appreciated. Enjoy! ❤

**WARNING: Spoilers for Season 2 as it follows the episodes storyline!**

Home sweet home. After a long day studying at the library, I was exhausted. I couldn’t wait to plop down on my bed and rest. Just thinking about it put a smile on my face.

I parked the car and got out, noticing that the lights were out. That was odd, mom and Dustin should be home by now.

“Mom?” I yelled out to the house as I came in, turning the lights on. “Dusty?”

There was no response, so I sat down on the couch and thought where they could be. I tapped my chin with one finger, just then remembering that mom was looking for Mews. But where the hell was my little brother?

Interrupting my train of thought, I heard a loud bang outside. I stood still, waiting to see if something else happened. After a few seconds of stillness, I could hear voices in the distance.

Standing up with determination, I headed to my room and grabbed my replica of Aragorn’s sword. Wielding the weapon to defend myself from potential intruders, I headed outside to where the noise originated from.

In the darkness of the night, I noticed a beam of light from a torch someone was holding. I recognized the hatted figure and the one next to him.

“Hey!” I shouted, startling them both. “What’s going on here?”

“Jesus, put that down!” The taller one said, taking a step back.

“Dusty, what’s he doing here?” I asked my brother, ignoring the other one.

“I’m-“ The latter replied, but I shoved him a little.

“I’m not talking to you, Harrington” I glared at him, trying to warn him. “Get away from my brother”

“No, Y/N, I asked him to come” Dustin defended him. “It’s okay”

“Yeah, what’s your problem?” Harrington mumbled in outrage, but he stood back when I pointed the sword his direction again. “Whoa, hey, watch it!”

“My problem is that you’re an asshole” He used to hang out with Tommy and Carol, and even if they had drifted apart, I didn’t believe him to be any better than them. “And I don’t like you being around my little brother”

Dustin tried to calm me down by pushing my sword arm down. I still eyed Harrington, secretly enjoying the cautious look he was giving me.

“Is that an actual sword?” He asked instead, probably trying to pretend he wasn’t intimidated.

“Yeah, from Lord of the Rings” Dustin proudly replied, grinning widely.

“You’re a nerd too?” The other exclaimed in surprise.

“Where do you think he got it from?” I replied, patting my brother’s head.

“Look, don’t tell mom” He told me gravelly, which wasn’t a great start. “But I think I’ve been harboring an evil creature”

“A what now?”

“Dart, I think he was evil”

“Dart? Who’s-” Was that the name he had given this new pet he was talking about? Nevermind, that wasn’t important. “How can you know that it was evil?”

“Because it ate Mews”

“Mews?! But mom is looking for him at the other side of town!”

“Exactly, that’s why I needed Steve’s help”

“Son of a bitch, Dustin!” I complained, eyeing Harrington as he wielded his bat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because! I didn’t want to freak you out, and you were in the library so…”

“Okay, sorry to interrupt this cute little family moment but…” Harrington knocked his bat against the closed doors that led to the basement. “Are you opening this or not?”

Dustin nodded, giving him the key, so he could reveal the inside of the cellar. The three of us stood there in silence for a moment until Harrington took a step forward.

“Not so fast, dumbass” I said, planting a hand on his chest and pushing him back. “I’m going first”

“What, why?”

“Because I don’t trust you, that’s why”

Harrington rolled his eyes at me and rested a hand against his hip in annoyance. I ignored him and entered the cellar, sword in hand. I walked slowly down the steps, glad that they were illuminating my way with their flashlight.

I suddenly yelped when I stepped on something slippery that made me fall. I landed with a thud that accompanied the clinking noise of the blade against the floor.

“Shit!” Harrington uttered, rushing to my aid. “You okay?”

“Y/N?” Dustin asked from the entrance too as Steve pulled me up.

“I’m fine!” I told them both, swatting him away. “It’s fine…”

Ignoring his exasperated sigh, I went to turn the light bulb on by pulling at the chord. The room was now flooded in the dim yellowish light. Harrington crouched down and used his bat to pick up what I had slipped with. I grimaced in disgust at the gross viscous substance hanging from it.

“Shit” Dustin muttered, examining whatever that thing was as he joined us.

“What is that?” I asked, watching how it dripped to the ground.

“Dart” My brother half-questioned, looking up at me.

“What kind of pets are you keeping, Dusty?” I uttered in outrage, eyeing him.

However, I walked away from them when I noticed something. There was an opening at the other end of the cellar, one that shouldn’t be there. I knelt down on the ground to examine it, but it was too dark to see anything.

“Um…” I piped up, trying to gather their attention. “What the hell is this?”

“Oh, shit” Dustin repeated as they both walked closer to see it.

Steve directed the beam of light to the opening, where we could see a tunnel.

*

After our little discovery, we came into the house to discuss how to approach the situation. While Steve and Dustin paced up and down, debating their next movement, I ended up falling asleep in the couch. When I woke up it was day already and last night’s events almost felt unreal.

I jumped to my feet, dropping something on the process, which I realized was Harrington’s jacket. I rolled my eyes at his poor attempt at getting on my good side and grabbed it as I stomped over to Dustin’s room. No one was there, and I hated to think that my little brother was alone with Steve Harrington.

I looked under the bed for his walkie-talkie and pressed the button, growing more anxious by the second. Especially when I remembered there was some sort of strange creature roaming around and they were going after it.

“Dusty, do you copy?” I paused, but insisted when I had no answer. “It’s Y/N, please respond if you copy. Over”

There was only static for several seconds until his voice came next.

“I copy, Y/N” I intently listened to his voice, but he seemed to sound unharmed. “I’m with Steve”

“Where the hell are you? I don’t want you chasing after some weird thing with only him to protect you”

“Um, yeah, I’m right here” Steve interrupted us, and I rolled my eyes just at his voice.

“Good” I told him, then pretending he wasn’t even there. “Answer me, Dustin, where are you?”

“We’re going to the old junkyard. But we got it under control, you can-“

“No way” I spoke to the walkie-talkie, already heading outside. “I’m on my way, over”

I wish I could take a weapon with me like Harrington had his bat with nails, but the closest thing I had to that was the Lord of the Rings sword, and it was blunt. I just hoped for the best and hurried to the car to get to them as soon as possible.

*

When I arrived, Dustin and Steve weren’t alone. Lucas was there too, along with a girl that I had never seen before. I supposed that was Max, the girl Dustin had told me about.

As I approached, Steve smiled at me as a peace offering, but I still didn’t like him. I had heard too many shitty things about him to trust him in the slightest. So I just ignored him, heading straight for the two boys hiding behind a rundown car.

“Hey, Lucas” I said, earning a ‘hi, Y/N’ from him. “Dusty, what are you two doing?”

“We’re talking, do you mind?” My brother complained, so I scowled at him a little and backed away.

I looked at Steve and the girl, wondering why the hell they were moving metallic plaques over to the outside of the bus. Still, I knew it had to do with the thing we found on our cellar and I didn’t like it one bit.

“Hey, Y/N” Harrington showed me a smile that I assumed pretended to be charming.

“Nice try, asshole” I tossed him the jacket, making him drop the plaque he was holding in order to catch it.

“What? I was just…”

“You’re gonna have to try a little harder than that”

“There’s just no pleasing you”

“You can always stop trying”

I heard a small laugh and was reminded of the girl’s presence there, so I approached her and forgot about Steve. I did smirk, though, when he walked away muttering to himself.

“Hi, I’m Y/N” I held my hand out for her to shake. “Dustin’s my brother”

“I’m Max” She replied, giving my hand a firm shake before dropping it.

“So Max, can you tell me what’s going on exactly?”

“As far as I understood, we’re trying to bait something with that” She pointed to the ground, where I noticed pieces of raw meat. “This ‘demogorgon’ from another dimension or something”

I frowned, completely baffled. I had heard that word before, but from Dusty’s D&D sessions. I opened my mouth to reply, but she was already walking away. Determined to confront Dustin about this whole thing, I walked over to him, just to see that Harrington had beat me to it.

“Hey, dickheads” He called them, slamming a rusty old chair against the car they hid behind. “How come the only one to help me is this random girl?”

They reluctantly followed after him, but I grabbed Steve by the arm. I wasn’t going to let him treat them like that.

“Don’t insult Lucas and my little brother” Before he could retaliate, I continued speaking. “In fact, don’t insult people, you jerk”

“I was just… I didn’t actually…” He bitterly chuckled and shook his head. “You’re such a joy, Henderson. Can’t wait to spend hours trapped with you on a small bus”

“Yeah, try to survive without looking at yourself in a mirror for so long”

He scoffed at me before carrying on with what he was doing. I walked over to Dustin and nudged him.

“Did that asshole say something to you?” I gravely asked, imagining lots of scenarios in which he gave my brother some really bad ideas.

“Huh?” Understanding what I was getting at, he shook his head. “No, he just gave me advice”

“Advice on what?”

“Girls…”

“Yeah, I’m sure it was great advice” I sarcastically replied, looking Harrington up and down in annoyance.

“What’s your problem with him?” Dustin complained. “Did he do something to you or something?”

“Not really, but I kept hearing all these things about him and… I just don’t think he’s a good influence, okay?” I rolled my eyes, hating to have to justify myself. “Besides, you didn’t like him either!”

“That was before” My brother began walking towards the bus. “I think he changed”

“Yeah, right…” I noticed Harrington was leaning on the bus, waiting for us. “Still don’t trust him”

“C’mon, slackers” He clapped his hands to hustle us. “It’ll be dark soon”

“Fine” I let Dustin go in first, but following close behind. “Just don’t stand too close to me. Wouldn’t want to catch any of the dumbass”

“Clever” Harrington muttered, walking in after me and closing the bus door behind him. “Come up with it on your own?”

I mockingly smiled at him, sitting down on the ground far away from where he settled in. Max occupied one of the worn out seats, lazily pointing up to the hole that led to the roof to tell us that Lucas was there keeping watch.

While it got dark, I found myself in a pensive mood. All of that was still crazy, the fact that just some hours ago I had been studying in the library like any other day and now we were waiting for some strange creatures that we had baited there to ambush.

I got back to reality when I noticed Dustin paced up and down. He was turning to the girl to reply to something she had told him, but he was being pretty rude to her.

Done with his outburst, Max went to stay up on the roof with Lucas. If that was his attempt to get her to like him, my brother was very wrong.

“Dusty!” I scolded him, but he just shrugged and continued pacing.

“Showing you don’t care, huh?” Harrington smirked at him.

“I don’t” Dustin replied simply, barely acknowledging him.

The other winked an eye at him, and I just knew that he had told him to treat her like that.

“Why are you winking, dumbass?” I kicked him in the knee, having to hold back a smirk when he let out a long ‘ouch!’ in response. “That was terrible advice”

“What do you know?” Closing the zippo he had been playing with, he defiantly stared.

“I know that if you want someone to like you, that’s not the way to go, okay?” I leaned forward, challenging him to talk back to me. “Being kind and thoughtful is”

“You’re an expert on that, aren’t you, Henderson?”

“That’s because I don’t like you” I said slowly, trying to let the words sink in. “Stop teaching my brother bad lessons”

With that, Harrington looked up to the inside of the bus. It was now empty.

“Wait, where is he?” We both ran to the window, watching Dustin outside.

“He probably got fed up with our arguing” Harrington observed, barely letting me see as he took all the space.

“And whose fault is that?” I rushed to the door, but felt a hand tugging at my arm. “Hey, they’re not even here yet”

“I don’t care” I broke free from his grasp and opened the bus door. “If he gets hurt today, I’m blaming you”

“What?! But he was the one-“ I heard him slapping his hands against his sides in exasperation seeing as I was ignoring him.

Dustin turned at the sound of the door opening. Our eyes met, and I silently asked him to come back with a gesture. My brother nodded, sinking his hands inside his pockets, and returned to us seeing that we were done fighting.

“Uh… Henderson?” Harrington spoke up, just as Dustin entered.

“What?” We both replied at the same time, soon realizing what he meant when a growling echoed around the junkyard.

“They’re here, but…” Steve nervously shook his head. “They’re not taking the bait”

“That doesn’t make sense” Dustin intervened, looking up at me to explain. “I thought…”

We both jumped when Harrington quickly moved around.

“What are you doing?” I questioned him when he turned to us.

“Just get ready” He tossed the zippo to Dustin and grabbed his bat.

“Steve…” Dustin uttered, watching him leave the bus.

“What…? Harrington, get back in here!” I whisper-yelled, even if he ignored me and closed the door again. “He’s gonna get himself killed”

Max had come down, so the three of us went for the windows to see what Harrington did. He stood outside, taunting the demogorgon as he slowly advanced in the fog. Time seemed to go by very slowly as we watched him being there on his own, attracting those things. It felt like it would jump at him at any moment, and I braced myself just in case.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Lucas called out from above, warning Steve.

“Crap” I muttered when I realized that, indeed, there was more than one.

“Steve!” Dustin ran to the door and opened it all the way. “Abort, abort!”

He took a look around, taking notice of the many creatures that surrounded him, and stepped back. We anxiously watched as he dodged one of them and swung his bat at another one, making a run for it when he got the chance. We encouraged him, urging him to run, until he made it in safely and Dustin quickly slammed the door shut.

Steve caught his breath, lying down on the ground, as he recovered. I gulped as I him, tapping his arm to check he was unharmed. I was distracted, though, hearing those things getting closer.

“Watch out!” I said when the demogorgons started banging against the door.

Steve grabbed a metallic plaque and set it against the door, keeping it in place with his feet. He swore under his breath when they banged it again, and I threw all my weight over it to try and help keep them out.

The bus violently shook, making us all yelp in alarm. I squeaked when they managed to break through the door, but Harrington was already prepared.

“Watch the kids!” He told me, sticking by the door with his bat.

I ushered the three of them closer to me, holding on to them and taking them with me to the other end of the bus. Dustin was desperately trying to get ahold of someone with the walkie-talkie while Max and Lucas stood closely together.

“Y/N…” The latter claimed my attention, and when I looked at him I noticed he was glancing up. Max screamed, and I resisted the urge to do too.

“No!” I pushed them all behind me after I saw a demogorgon creeping on us from above.

“Outa the way, outa the way!” Steve was with us in a heartbeat, wielding his bat.

Protectively standing before us, he attentively watched the creature, ready to strike. It growled once more, and I couldn’t contain a cry this time, feeling myself shaking. We were locked in a bus, surrounded by those horrible things that would no doubt kill us.

The bus then wobbled before the silence established. The change from tension to stillness was jarring, but I welcomed the calm. I put a hand on top of Dustin’s head, over his hat, wanting him to look at me. Without any words, he nodded rapidly to assure he was okay. I noticed his eyes shifted to Max and Lucas, who were holding hands, and I frowned at the sight.

I really wanted to comfort Dustin about it, but it was _not_ the time for that. We had bigger things to worry about.

Moving cautiously, nearly afraid to make any sound whatsoever, we neared the door. Steve, always at the front, opened it slowly. They weren’t around the bus anymore.

“Are they gone?” I dared to ask, shuddering when my voice abruptly interrupted the loud quietness.

“Think so” Max replied behind me, although shakily.

“What… happened?”

“Steve scared them off?”

“No, no way” The aforementioned was already outside, but he turned to us and rested the bat on his shoulder. “They’re going somewhere”

There was a pause in which we all looked at each other. I tried not to freak out thinking that we had lucked out to come out alive.

“Alright” I took a deep breath, realizing like the feeling of imminent death was gone now. “Everyone okay?”

“Yeah” The kids lowly replied, soberly nodding their heads.

“Wait” I tapped Harrington on the shoulder when he began walking. “Where are you going?”

“We’re following them” He replied, gesturing in that direction, like it was obvious.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“We can’t let them hurt anyone”

“Y-Yeah, but we barely made it!”

“No one’s asking you to come anyway”

“I’m not just… leaving you guys now!”

Steve motioned for me to get going with a head movement and took a step forward without looking back. I sighed in resignation, knowing there was no going back now.

I watched Harrington as he walked, bat against his shoulder. I was suddenly unable to avert my eyes in awe of what I had just witnessed. That jerk, who had picked up fights with Jonathan Byers when his brother went missing, who always thought he was better than anyone and looked down on people. _That_ jerk had just risked his life, several times, in order to protect us. Willingly. He had valiantly fought those things while we stayed behind in the safety of the bus. He had surprised me, doing selfless things I never thought a self-absorbed asshole like him was capable of.

“Y/N?” Dustin tugged at my hand, interrupting my train of thought. “You alright?”

“Yeah…” I lied, since I was feeling a headache coming. “You, little guy?”

“I’m fine…” He assured, even if it wasn’t really convincing.

“Wanna talk?” I offered while we walked, knowing he was still upset about Max.

“Not really” He shrugged one shoulder. “There’s not much I can do, is it? I think she made up her mind”

While Harrington was at the front, Lucas and Max were walking side by side after all. They seemed really close, and I understood that it bothered Dustin if he was interested in her too.

“Well, that’s very mature of you” I fondly put an arm over his shoulders and shook him a little. “But hey, I’m sure you’ll find an amazing girl who loves you just the way you are”

“You’re just saying that” He feebly kicked a rock on the floor, sending it flying forward.

“I mean it, just be patient” I let go of him, ruffling his hat and his hair. “Life surprises us, you’ll find someone you vibe with”

“Can you tell me when?” Dustin tiredly asked, looking up at me.

As we continued walking, I felt someone watching me. I turned to find Steve’s brown eyes fixed on me. However, when I reciprocated the glance, he frowned and looked away.

“When you least expect it, I guess…”

*

The evening had been absolutely crazy. After we were nearly attacked by those demogorgon things, we followed them to Hawkins lab, where we met Jonathan and Nancy. It was crazy, Hopper and Joyce were there too, with Will and Mike. Apparently, Will was sick somehow and we all went to the Byers house to try and cure him.

Once there, I spoke to Nancy and Jonathan, who explained the whole thing. I was still having a hard time believing things like another dimension called ‘the upside down’ and a creature they called ‘the shadow monster’ were real. But I was willing to stay with Dustin, to protect him and look after the kids. I had said it before, I wasn’t going to abandon them now.

“You okay?” Steve’s voice startled me so much that I noticeably jumped.

“Y-Yeah” I muttered, lowering my hand when I realized I had been biting my nails.

“Here” He said, taking his jacket off and offering it to me. “You’re shaking”

“I’m not scared” I said, facing my back to him in annoyance.

“I didn’t say you were scared” Not giving up, Harrington moved to face me again. “Just that you’re shaking”

He offered me the jacket again, and I honestly welcomed the thought. This nervous shivering was partially because of the cold, but the comforting feeling of the extra layer was appealing. I stared at Steve as I took his jacket, not breaking eye contact when I put it on.

“What?” He asked, uncomfortable under my scrutiny.

“It looks like you’re not that much of a jerk after all, Harrington” I smiled, surprised by this sweet side of him. “At least you seem to have a heart”

Not only had he protected us all back in the bus, but also even offer himself as bait. And after all, I hadn’t seen him with those jerks friends of his again. Maybe Steve wasn’t as bad as I thought.

“Spare me the little speech” He smirked, causing me to chuckle a little.

“Gladly” I huddled under his jacket, welcoming the warmth.

He then nodded, leaving with a last soft smile in my direction. Everything started feeling a little better now.

“Hey” I called him, averting my gaze when he turned to me again. “Your advice is still terrible…”

“Y/N, c’mon” Steve complained, throwing his hands up in the air.

“What I mean is…” I rushed to say, implying that I meant no harm. “Even if it’s terrible, thanks for taking care of my brother”

“Sure, the little shit’s cool” Harrington coolly leaned on the wall.

“Where do you think he gets it from?” I replied, making him laugh a little.

I tiredly leaned on the wall as well, feeling a throbbing headache at all the new information I learned that day. It was so overwhelming and, honestly, kind of terrifying.

“You sure you’re okay?” Steve insisted, gently fondling my arm.

“Yeah, just got a headache” I rubbed my forehead, feeling a bit lightheaded as well. “Always get one when I’m anxious”

“You don’t have to do this, you know?”

“What do you mean? Do what?”

“Pretend like you’re fine. I guess you do it for Dustin, I don’t know, but he can take it”

I stared at him, wondering if he knew how hard I tried to be strong for him. For him, for mom, even for myself. I was the oldest sibling, it was my responsibility.

I patted Steve’s shoulder, nodding at his surprisingly wise words. Briefly looking over to Dustin sitting with his friends, I heaved a sigh. I hated to admit it, but Harrington was right. My brother was smart, and strong. If he could take the demogorgons, he could take me being a little overwhelmed.

“I think I’m gonna lie down” I told Steve, pointing at one of the couches. “Just for one sec”

“Good idea” He grinned, patting my back. “I’ll hold the fort for you”

“Tell Dusty not to worry” That said, I feebly walked to the couch and plopped down there.

I knew it was almost impossible for me to fall asleep, and I didn’t want to anyway. But I closed my eyes to rest my heavy eyelids and weary mind.

*

Barely realizing I had actually fallen asleep, I was abruptly awoken by loud noises. I had run to see if everyone was safe, just to be stopped by Steve, who held his arm before me.

“What’s going on?!” I exclaimed, holding on to his arm since he still wouldn’t let me pass.

Everyone stood around, apparently expecting something. Hopper and Nancy wielded shotguns, Steve held on to his bat and Lucas had his slingshot at the ready. They all watched the windows, barely even blinking.

“They’re coming” Mike replied ominously, making eye contact.

“What-?” I tried to walk closer to the window, but everyone scolded me for it.

Luckily, Steve’s arm blocked my path still, and he gently pushed me back.

“Stay behind me” He muttered, pressingly tugging at my sleeve. “Behind me, Y/N!”

“Okay, okay!” I obliged, positioning myself behind him and holding on to Dustin’s arm to keep him close.

While Hopper, Nancy, Lucas and Steve wielded their weapons, the rest of us stood behind them. I held on to Steve’s shoulders, still not letting go of my brother to assure he lingered by my side. Jonathan and Joyce were at my right, and he held on to my shoulder.

Noises erupted outside, causing us all to turn to the sound and scream. I clung on to Steve and Dustin when my heart started racing. And then something went through the window.

I squeaked, pushing my brother closer to me and protectively wrapping both arms around him. When we looked, we saw it was a demogorgon, but it wasn’t moving. What…?

“Shit…” I uttered when the door suddenly started unlocking, keeping us tense.

It then opened to reveal a young girl all dressed in black. I panicked thinking who she could be, yet everyone seemed to relax at the sight of her.


	2. Chapter 2

“Eleven…” I looked up at Steve, who towered over me with his hands on his hips. “That’s the girl’s name?”

“Yeah, she has powers and shit” He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, still watching me from his standing position. “I think she was forced to open the gate to the dimension where those damn things come from or something”

I heaved a sigh, placing my hands against my head. This was all too much to take in all at once. And to think that my little brother was involved in it from the start, in deathly danger, caused a nasty shiver down my spine.

“Is Y/N okay?” I heard him mutter. “Got one of your headaches?”

“I’m fine, Dusty” I forced myself to look up at him, even if I only managed a weak smile.

“Yeah, don’t worry” Steve patted my shoulder, even if looking in Dustin’s direction. “Y/N’s tough”

I eyed Steve after his comment, and he winked an eye at me. I had to smile in spite of it all. The silence that settled, however, was overwhelming. Everyone was gone to take care either of Will or the gate. It was only me and Steve with the kids, and the house felt empty compared to the crowd that we were before.

“Um…” I piped up, noticing Max, Lucas and Mike were talking amongst them. “What’s going on?”

The three of us went to join them, seeing that Michael was frantically examining the drawings that the Byers had put all over the house. They were talking about some hub and about setting fire to it to solve it all, and I was surprised when Steve gave a little authoritarian speech, going full mom at the mention of fire and refusing to let them put themselves in danger like that.

I parted my lips, trying to back him up, when a distant noise interrupted me. The kids rushed to the windows, and Max gasped at the sight. Car headlights shone in from outside.

“It’s my brother” She explained, nervously looking at us. “He can’t know I’m here, he’ll kill me. He’ll kill _us”_

“No, no, no, no, no” I paced up and down, knowing that the only thing that could make everything worse was Billy Hargrove looking for trouble. “No way, no way”

“Calm down” Steve told me gravelly, eyebrows furrowed. “I’ll handle it”

“What?!” I followed him as he crossed the room. “Are you crazy?!”

He seemed determined, continuing his advance even if his shoulders were tense. His silence was anguishing me even more, especially knowing that he had some history with Billy. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

“Steve” I urgently grabbed his arm, feeling the now familiar sensation of my heart thumping against my chest. “What are you doing? He’s gonna beat the shit out of you”

He didn’t reply. He just looked at me for a moment before gently yanking his arm free from my grasp. Then he walked over to the door, hesitating before he opened it.

“Don’t let them come out” Steve told me over his shoulder. “No matter what, _stay here_ ”

“St-“ Before I could call him again, he had already exited the house. “Son of a bitch”

“Y/N?” Dustin muttered, staring at me. “What do we do?”

“Stand back, kids” I leaned against the door, trying to listen to what was happening outside.

I heard a thud that caused a lump in my throat, and then angry footsteps approaching. The door swung open, sending me off balance as I had been still leaning on it. And in came Billy Hargrove, looking royally pissed.

“Hey” I told him, but he was more interested in watching Lucas and Max. “Hey!!”

Surprised by me, he arched his eyebrows and turned my direction. No matter how intimidated I was by him, I held his glance defiantly.

“Leave the kids alone” I warned him, but he rolled his eyes at me and faced his back to me again. “Hey! Are you deaf?”

“I’ll deal with you later” Billy dangerously advanced towards Lucas, causing a ruckus as everyone tried to stop him. “Stay out of this, pretty face”

“No!” I grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to face me again. “I’m not gonna let you touch him”

“And what are you gonna do?” He smirked, leaning closer to me and making me take a step back. Billy pushed on, patting my cheek repeatedly as a warning. “Huh? Whatcha gonna do?!”

I took a deep breath, trying to muster all the courage I had in me, and swung my fist to his jaw. I yelped, clutching my hand to my chest, when it started throbbing. I had painfully twisted my wrist, and he didn’t even bat an eye.

“Nice try” Billy took me by the lapels of Steve’s jacket and pulled me closer.

“Hey!” Steve was back, and he quickly pushed me away, literally stepping between me and Billy. “Cut it out, man”

But Billy didn’t listen. I frantically pushed the kids out of the way when Steve suddenly punched Billy in the face. He caused him to stumble, unlike my attempt, but Hargrove just laughed at the attack.

Steve still faced Billy, but subtly waved a hand in my direction, telling me to keep myself and the kids away. I did, holding on to Lucas and Max while the others stayed close to me.

Billy’s nose was bleeding, and I could tell that wasn’t good for his temper. Sure enough, he retaliated. Luckily, Steve dodged the punch and hit him, but Billy didn’t take long to have the advantage.

They struggled, hitting each other, even if Steve was taking most of the damage. The kids shouted, encouraging Steve. I remained completely quiet as I watched the fight develop. I wanted to intervene, but I knew that it would only complicate things for Steve and that he preferred that I stayed out of it anyway.

I muffled a scream against my hands when Billy smashed a plate on Steve’s head. That was it, I was done watching. I walked over to them just as he knocked Steve to the ground. My heart skipped a beat when he furiously casted his fists against Steve’s face.

“Get off him, you asshole!” I jumped on Billy’s back, wrapping my arm around his neck and squeezing it against his throat, trying to get him off poor Steve. “Stop, stop it!!!”

Billy continued, but Steve had stopped moving. His face was completely covered in blood and his eyes were closed. He was going to kill him if he didn’t stop.

“Fuck off!” Billy pushed me off him, painfully throwing me to the ground.

I was about to stand up and try again when I noticed Max making her way over to them. Before I could stop her, she had stuck a needle on her brother’s neck. I breathed out in relief when I realized it was what the Byers had been using to keep that shadow monster thing from taking over Will’s mind. It would slow Billy down for now.

Billy fell to the ground, still laughing like a maniac. I tried to even my quick breaths as I watched Billy and his sister.

“Max?” I asked in between ragged breaths. “You okay?”

“Yeah” She took the bat with the nails and nodded in my direction. “I got this”

“Shit” I crawled over to where Steve lied motionless and looked him up and down. “Shit, Steve?”

I gently shook his shoulder, but only managed to make his head loll to the side in his unconscious state. I breathed out, however, when I noticed his chest softly moving up and down.

Checking on the rest, I looked up to see Max really had everything under control. Billy was now out cold, and she grabbed his keys from his jean pockets.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked the three boys, who vehemently nodded. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Lucas insisted, still shaken up knowing that he had been Billy’s target.

“Let’s get out of here” Max told us, holding on to Billy’s car keys.

“Right…” I watched the kids as they stood there, so I directed them from the ground. “Mike, grab a towel and the first aid kit. And Max, start the car”

He left to look for it with a head nod, disappearing into the corridor. The redhead went outside and a few seconds later we heard the noise of the engine revving.

“Is he okay?” Dustin whispered, carefully walking closer to us as I delicately lay Steve’s head onto my lap. “Shit, he looks awful”

“We’ll patch him up in the car… Okay…” I gulped, holding his head with shaky hands, absently caressing his hair while my mind raced. “You guys… You two help me lift him up”

I stuck my arms under his armpits, holding him tight as Lucas and Dustin grabbed one of his legs each. As we slowly lifted him off the ground, Mike was back with the first aid kit.

“Great, thanks” I told him, nodding towards the exit. “Open the door for us, will you?”

We carried Steve out of the house and, with great effort, carefully settled him on the backseat between Dustin and Mike. I went over to the driver’s seat and glared at Max.

“I’m driving” She simply said, but I shook a finger at her.

“The hell you are, you either squeeze in there with Lucas or in the backseat”

“But-“

“You’re not driving, Max!”

“Fine” Begrudgingly, she left the driver’s seat free for me and sat with Lucas.

“Okay” I sat down and rested my hands on the steering wheel, even if it had been a long time since I last drove a car, probably since I got my license. “I have no idea where we’re going”

I slowly drove off the side of the house, not really knowing where I was headed. What I knew was that we needed to get out of there before Billy woke up.

My mind raced as I thought of a safe place to be. Maybe I could drive us back home, but if mom was there it would be hard to explain why I was looking after four kids and a bloodied Steve Harrington.

“How’s Steve doing?” I asked my brother, not taking my eyes off the road.

“He’s pretty beat up” He simply replied. “But he’s hanging in there”

I quickly looked in the rear view mirror, seeing how he had cleaned the blood off his face and put a few band-aids over his cuts as well. I felt just a little better knowing he was being taken care of.

“Okay” I nervously said, lightly stepping on the gas and driving faster.

*

Son of a bitch, I should have known! I was too rattled to notice they had been using me like a fool. How was I gullible enough to take Lucas’ directions? I just thought he had a safe place to be and I blindly followed knowing I couldn’t think clearly enough myself. But no, they had directed me right to the dangerous place we were not supposed to go to.

“Wait, wait, wait” I followed the kids as they hurried to the trunk. “What are you doing?!”

Just then, Steve stumbled out of the car. He had woken up somewhere along the ride, but it had taken him a bit to sober up. At least he was somewhat calm, I didn’t even want to imagine his freak out if Max had driven the car.

“You… You little shits! We’re not going in there!” I stepped before Mike when he confidently walked over to the hole in the ground, wearing a handkerchief over his mouth and goggles over his eyes. “Steve’s hurt! And that’s probably a fucking death trap!”

“I’m okay, but you’re not going in there!” The aforesaid shouted, angrily pointing at the entrance.

“You’re not okay, you can barely stand!” I told him, watching as he leaned on the open car door. “You had a plate smashed on your head and probably have a concussion”

Steve just sighed, apparently exhausted. Still, he continued trying to gather the kids’ attention as I went to the trunk to talk to my brother.

“Dustin, I am serious!” I slammed the trunk door shut seeing as he was finished taking everything out. “I will not let you put your lives at risk like that! You-“

“We need to go in there, Y/N!” He argued, raising his voice. “So you either come with us or we go alone”

“I can’t believe you… I cannot believe you!” I took him by the shoulders and shook him. “Are you insane?! What if something happens in there and you… You’re my brother, I can’t…”

“So come with me” He offered me a pair of goggles and a handkerchief.

I looked into his eyes through the goggles, noticing they had a pleading look in them. One that I knew very well, from when he innocently asked to borrow something or for me to let him stay out past his curfew because I always picked him up. He trusted me, but just thinking about the possibility of losing him made me feel light-headed.

“Well…” Steve was now next to us, already armed with his trustworthy bat. “We’ll have to look after these little dickheads”

I turned to him, just then noticing he had also put on a handkerchief and goggles.

“Dammit…” I took what Dustin offered me and put it on myself. “Sometimes I seriously hate you, Dusty”

He chuckled a little, relieved that I had agreed. He squeezed my arm as a thank you and went to reunite with the rest waiting at the entrance. They had already dropped a rope tied to the back of the car that we could use to lower ourselves into the tunnels.

“But you stay close to me, you hear?” I exclaimed to my brother, trying to make myself heard. “And don’t you tell mom”

“Yeah, yeah…” Dustin muttered, waving me off as he stood with his friends.

“How are you, Harrington?” I asked to distract myself. “You took a serious beating”

“Why do you even care?” He teased me as we both walked with the others. “Thought you hated me”

“Geez, he was gonna kill you” I rolled my eyes, even if he probably couldn’t see with the goggles. “I don’t hate you _that_ much, I’m not evil”

“Thanks, Y/N” Steve chuckled a little, nudging me with his elbow.

“So… You okay?” We locked eyes, even through the goggles.

“Yeah, you?” He lifted his hand, brushing his thumb against a sore spot in my cheek.

“Yeah” I winced, but didn't break away from his touch when he gingerly grazed my bruise.

We didn't move for a few seconds, lingering on that position. 

“Let’s go then” His hand left my face and he took a step forward.

I followed without hesitation.

*

Not that I would tell him, but having Steve going first wielding his bat was comforting. We had argued over who went first, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer, insisting that he was the armed one. Even when I asked him to give me the bat so I could lead the way, he refused.

Mike told us where to go as we advanced through the tunnels. So far, everything was going smoothly, taking in consider that our mission was to explore those underground tunnels to try and kill a master mind creature from another dimension with fire.

“What have I gotten myself into?” I whispered to myself, absently pointing my flashlight around to take a good look at my surroundings.

For a moment I thought Steve heard me when he looked over his shoulder to me, but he had been checking on us every now and then since we went in there. He lingered longer than other times, though, so I tilted my head in concern.

Just then, a loud scream made us jump as we heard Dustin calling for help.

“Dusty!” I ran as fast as I could, dropping to my knees when I reached where he sat on the ground. “What’s wrong?!”

“It’s in my mouth!!” He shrieked, and I assumed he meant the spores that floated in the air. “Shiiiiit!”

I held on to his shoulder as he violently coughed them out. The others were with us in the blink of an eye, frantically asking if he was okay. When he calmed down, he slowly looked up at us. My heart stopped for a second as I waited for him to say something.

“I’m okay” My brother piped up, nearly giving me a heart attack.

“Son of a bitch…” I went to hug him, trying to calm down and tell myself he was alright. “Don’t ever do that again, stupid!!”

“Hey” Steve called, causing the two of us to turn our heads. “C’mon, let’s go”

“I said stay close to me” I lectured my brother as we followed Steve further into the tunnels.

“Sorry…” Dustin replied, leaning against my side. I sighed and put an arm over his shoulders.

“I think this is it!” Lucas announced as we made it to a bigger area.

As I looked around, it did seem like it was the center of it all as many of the tunnels connected to the area. Exchanging a few glances, we began what we had come to do. Dousing the hub, walls and everything we could in gasoline, it felt like we were one step closer to be free from that nightmare.

Steve took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with me. I nodded my head and he pulled out a zippo lighter. When he checked we were all ready, he tossed it and lit everything on fire.

I took a deep breath as I watched the flames, finding it to be incredibly cathartic. It felt like everything was okay now, like it was over. That was, until the tentacles began to writhe and fight the fire.

“Shit, get out” Steve gently pushed the kids. “Out, now, c’mon!”

I held on to Dustin’s shoulder as we made our way out of there. Steve leaded the way once more, with me at the rear right behind my brother. We ran through the tunnels, trying to return to the entrance now that the job was done and before the tentacles could retaliate.

“Ah!” I screamed when I felt something wrapping around my ankle and yanking me back.

“Y/N!” Dustin shouted, managing to hold me by the wrists before I could be taken. “Steve, help!”

I made the mistake of looking back to what had its hold on me, recognizing a pair of tentacles creeping up my ankle. They protruded from the wall and were lifting me off the ground. I shrieked when I realized they were pulling me towards the wall, and I had a feeling that it would engulf me if we were to let it.

“HELP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, holding on to Dustin’s arms as hard as I could.

“Take the bat, here, take the bat” Steve gave it to the kids and wrapped his arms around my torso, pulling me towards him. “Use it, hurry!”

I held on to Steve and Dustin, feeling more hands grabbing me to try and help Steve. I felt the tugging lessening after a loud bang behind me, and I saw one of the kids slamming the bat down on the tentacles that gripped me.

With a new tug, stronger this time, I yelped. The tentacles were so tight around my ankle that they were squashing it. I screamed out in pain when I felt something snapping.

“Shit, I heard something cracking” Dustin said, which didn’t really help.

“Steve!!” I begged, desperate for help and now being blinded by a lacerating pain.

The chaos that was the mixture of all of our voices died down just as the grip in my ankle disappeared. Max, or whoever was holding the bat, had beaten the tentacle off me. Ridden from that force pulling at me, I fell and landed over Steve. We both breathed heavily, arms around each other, as we recovered from the strain and the anguish.

“Y/N!” The kids all exclaimed, surrounding me as I rolled off my position on top of Steve.

In their hurry, however, one of them accidentally kicked me in the leg. I had never felt such an intense pain, I was literally unable to breathe and function for several seconds. Tears gathered in the corner of my eyes. I was positive that I had broken something.

“No, don’t! Don’t touch it” Dustin’s hands kept me from clutching my ankle.

I tried to focus on my breathing and not on my pain when I felt myself hyperventilating.

“Hey, whoa! Hey, hey, Y/N” Steve positioned himself behind me, carefully sitting me up and holding me by the shoulders. “It’s okay, try not to move”

I leaned on him, seeking any comfort that I could find, and leaned my head back on his shoulder. Closing my eyes tight, I managed to breathe slower. A few seconds later, a pair of hands had delicately settled around my ankle, lifting the bottom of my jeans.

“Uh…” Dustin stuttered. “Yeah, I… I think it’s broken, it’s already swollen”

I took a cautious look at my leg, and even if I could hardly see in the dim-lit space, I could definitely tell something was not right with my ankle. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the pain or the shock, but I felt light-headed and faint.

“Shit… Shit, shit, shit…” Just then, I felt a hand taking my own, I couldn’t tell whose.

“It’s okay, Y/N” Steve said in my ear, squeezing my hand. “It's gonna be okay”

“Guys, we can’t stay here!” Mike exclaimed. “What do we do?”

“O-Okay… Fuck it…” I muttered through grit teeth. “Help me up”

Many pairs of hands held on to me while Steve’s hooked under my arms and lifted me up from behind. I leaned on the good foot and took a few deep breaths.

“Y/N, you good?” Dustin uttered with a shaky voice.

“I’ll survive” I grunted, supporting myself on his shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here, now!” Lucas urged us, starting to walk already.

“Can you stand? Can you walk?” Steve asked me in concern, but I nodded.

“You lead the way” I told him, then motioning over to my brother. “He’ll give me a hand”

Steve took a step back, even if watching me still. I nodded again and he reluctantly gathered the kids to follow him, retrieving the bat from Max.

“I’m sorry” Dustin muttered as he let me lean on him. “This is my fault”

“No, it’s not” I said, straining as I limped through. “It’s not, Dusty, so shut up”

He didn’t say anything else, but I knew that sad silence of his. I tried to ignore the pain to think of something to reply. The tunnels were in complete calmness except for Steve’s distant commands to hurry up.

“If it makes you feel any better, little brother” I began to say, squeezing his shoulder. “Now you owe me a week of errands”

“Deal” Dustin chuckled a little, but he suddenly stopped right in his tracks.

I too heard the growling sound before us. My brother slowly took his goggles off, lowering the handkerchief to speak.

“Dusty?” I called him, concerned when he let go of me and took a step forward.

“Dustin! What are you doing?” Everyone else joined to my complaints, but he shut us off.

“It’s Dart” He held a hand up to calm us. “Trust me”

“Here” Steve gently pulled at my arm so I backed up with them. “I got him, don’t worry”

I leaned on his shoulder, trying to favor my leg, as Steve wielded the bat. He was ready to intervene if Dart were to attack my brother. I anxiously held on to Steve’s shoulder as I watched the scene.

At Dustin’s petition, we carried on while he distracted the demogorgon. Steve wrapped an arm around my waist and helped me walk while the kids cautiously rushed ahead. As we successfully escaped Dart, I found a new appeal to the boring everyday life I had been used to. I couldn’t wait to get out of that place. And hopefully have a doctor check me.

“Go!” Steve carefully leaned me against the wall, pointing up ahead. “Go, go, go, go!”

The breath hitched in my throat when I noticed we had made it to the rope, we were back at the entrance. There were growling noises behind us, but Steve was helping the kids up to the rope and out of the tunnels.

“I got this” I grabbed the bat that he had left on the ground. “Help them out”

Steve paused for just a second to look at me before continuing to help them. Max and Lucas were already out, and he was now lifting Mike up. When Dustin joined us, I softly pushed him towards the rope while I watched for demogorgons.

I was still breathing erratically from the pain and the strain of the mere effort of standing, but I tightly held on to the bat, more than ready to swing it at those creatures.

“But you…” My brother complained, looking down to my ankle.

“Just go, Dusty!” I pressed on, making him click his tongue and obey.

Steve hoisted Dustin up to the surface with the others. i repositioned my hands around the bat when the growling grew closer.

“Hey" Steve called me, taking the bat from me. "Now you go” 

“Steve…” I warned him when I noticed the growling was so much closer than before.

“Crap!” He wrapped an arm around me, keeping me close, and held his bat with his free hand. The creatures were right in front of us, and there were a lot of them, inching closer.

I shielded myself on the embrace, hiding my face on his chest with a yelp. However, I breathed out when I realized we weren’t being attacked. I dared to peek, just to see that they were running past us.

“What the…?” I whispered, looking up to the kids.

“Eleven” Mike mumbled from above.

“Okay” Steve gulped, holding the rope and offering it to me. “Out, now”

I feebly nodded and climbed up, glad that the kids were fast to hold on to me and help pull myself up. Steve soon followed, climbing to the surface with all of us.

Standing closely together, we all checked on each other. Fortunately, it seemed like everyone was safe and sound. Billy’s car, however, shone the headlights on our eyes. As I shielded them with my arm like the rest of them, I wondered why the lights were so bright all of a sudden.

“The gate” Lucas suggested, which tied with Mike mentioning the girl.

“It’s over” Dustin smiled in relief, eyes fixed on me.

“Yeah” My whole body felt sore with the remnants of the pain, stress and tension we had experienced through the day. “Finally”

They got startled when I threw myself to the ground, finding it a blessing to rest for just five seconds. Holding my head down in exhaustion, I gave them a thumbs up to calm them.

I analyzed my own feelings to pinpoint what exactly my mind was going through at the moment. It still registered the blinding pain in my ankle and my muscles carried all that tiredness, but apart from that I felt decent. Alive and safe, which was saying a lot.

“It’s not quite over yet” Steve said as he bent down towards me.

“Steve, what…?” I accidentally squeaked when I found myself being scooped into his arms and raised off the ground. “What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna take Y/N to the hospital” He paused for a moment to catch his breath, turning to the kids. “You go back, get somewhere safe”

“How?”

“The car, stupid!”

“I _have_ driven before…”

“Steve, are you insane?”

“You’re gonna carry Y/N all the way there?”

“It’s not that far”

“So I get to drive?” Max was surprised and mildly excited at the outcome.

“Yes, but only because this is an emergency” Steve lifted one of the hands that supported me by the legs and pointed a finger at her. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Wait, don’t I get a saying in this?” I muttered, clumsily holding on to him.

“No, you need that leg checked” He just said, watching the kids for a moment with a warning glare before starting to distance us from them. “Be safe!”

“You can’t just let Max drive!” I slapped him in the shoulder, but he seemed unbothered and determined. “Steve, put me down right now!”

“Yeah, and who’s gonna take you to the hospital, smartass?” He retaliated, giving me an annoyed glare.

“I’m fine, I don’t need-“

“Well, I say you do”

“But-“

“You look like shit”

The discussion was cut short when Steve had to salvage a drop in the terrain and the sharp movement made me bounce on his arms, triggering a wave of pain in my ankle.

“Ah!!” I rested my forehead against his neck, shutting my eyes tight when a sickening dizziness took over me. “Fuck…”

“Sorry! Sorry, I’m sorry…” He nervously muttered. “You okay?”

I didn’t have the strength to speak up, so I just shook my head in response. I felt my grip on his shoulders loosening, but didn’t feel strong enough to tighten it again.

“You’re not gonna faint on me, are you?” Steve shook me a little in his arms.

“Why?” I breathed out, actually feeling slightly faint now. “Are you scared I’m gonna die, Harrington?”

“No” His voice sounded too carefree when he replied after a brief pause. “I just think you have to be actually dying to let me carry you like this”

“Yeah” I laughed between pants. “Maybe”

“Hang in there” Steve tilted me so I fully rested over him. “It’s not much further”

Feeling safe in his embrace, I rested my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. We would get there soon.

*

What a nightmare. Some weird creature had eaten our cat, and Dustin had allied with Steve Harrington to help him track it down. There was this girl with telekinetic powers and something about another dimension and…

I groaned when I realized it wasn’t a dream, it all had really happened. It felt surreal and distant, but it was very real. I just happened to be sleepy like I had just woken up from a dream. Still, it took my exhausted body and mind some time to realize I was supposed to open my eyes.

All the memories rushed back to me with excruciating detail: the harrowing tension, the heart wrenching danger, the emotional strain, the mental exhaustion and the physical pain.

Making a huge effort, I opened my eyes and found myself in a hospital room. Sitting next to my bed was Steve, and I fondly smiled at the thought of everything we had gone through that day. I meant to reach out for him, but everything hurt. I watched him while I found my voice, seeing how his knee bounced up and down and his head hanged low.

“Hey, dumbass” I called him, even if my voice was weak and rough.

Steve quickly looked up, with his thumb against his mouth as he bit on his fingernails.

“Hey, Henderson” He whispered not to disrupt the silence, which I appreciated since everything felt too loud and bright around me, even in the silence. “How you feeling?”

“Like I just survived a real life Dungeons and Dragons campaign”

Steve grinned, standing up and breaking the distance between us. He leaned his hand on the edge of my bed and looked at me for a moment, almost examining me.

“You’re a tough cookie” He finally spoke, nodding towards my leg. “Two broken bones, a sprained wrist, bruises in your face and contusions all over”

As a further reminder of what happened that insane day, I started feeling every single one of those things. The cast on my left leg was obvious, even if the pain wasn’t as intense as before. But I also felt a tingling in my right wrist that reminded me of punching Billy Hargrove. The bruises I felt in my cheek and jaw were proof of my failed attempt to keep him from killing Steve with his fists.

“Honestly? I forgot about everything but my leg” It wasn't a total lie, the pain in my ankle overshadowed everything else.

At my words, Steve gently put his hand atop of my arm, squeezing it fondly, and chuckled.

"What about you?" I lifted my hand, letting the tip of my fingers gingerly brush against the cut on his lip. 

"Oh, uh..." He mildly winced at the contact with his bruise. "I'm... I'm okay, they checked me up" 

I nodded, trully glad that they had taken care of his bruises as well. It was a relief that he was alright too.

I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling physically and mentally exhausted. I heard Steve stuttering for a moment before speaking up again.

“I called your house while you were sleeping, by the way” His words gathered my attention, so I opened my eyes and glanced at him. “Dustin’s okay, and so is everyone”

“Good” I sighed, not realizing I had been holding my breath in anticipation.

Steve nodded vehemently too, reclaiming his spot on the chair. I almost missed his touch when his hand slipped off my arm. Once he was sitting again, he paused for a moment.

“Doc said they’ll be checking on you” He awkwardly muttered, looking down to his hands as he held them together. “You should be out of here soon”

“Great” I got comfortable in the bed, sinking my head into the pillow. 

Tilting my head towards him, I noticed he heaved a small sigh. A shaky hand flew to his hair before he looked up to me again.

“Hey, listen” Steve paused, briefly licking his lips. “I… I feel terrible that you got into this, I feel responsible”

“Really? Why?” I was completely baffled by his statement.

“It’s just… You got hurt and…” Steve shrugged, but there was a pronounced frown on his forehead.

“So did you, Steve…” I watched him closely, examining the wounds on his lip, nose, cheeks and eye. Even if they had been treated, his face was still a bit red and swollen.

“I know, but…” Looking down to his hands, he clicked his tongue. “I don’t know…”

“Hey” I uttered, leaning my hands over his to gather his attention. “Why would you feel responsible?” 

“I mean… it was because of me that you stuck around”

An uncomfortable silence settled while I thought it over. While it was true that it was because of him, it wasn’t his fault. Sure, if I had seen Dustin hanging out with Mike or someone else instead of Harrington, I might not have gotten involved. It was my concern with my little brother being with him what got me into that mess.

But Steve wasn’t even doing anything wrong. He was only trying to help, and he pulled through. He protected us, and basically saved our lives more than once. It was stupid that he blamed himself for what happened. If anything, my prejudice and stubbornness were to blame. I was adamant on believing Steve was the same person from last year, the popular kid who hung out with Tommy and Carol. I had been too pigheaded to believe he had changed when he actually had.

“It’s not your fault, Harrington” I calmly told him, earning a soft look from him. “You were just being nice to my brother, helping him”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, I do"

"Thanks..."

"Besides, I’m kind of glad I got involved”

“How…” He blinked repeatedly, puzzled. “Why?”

“I wanted to help out too, and… I think it’s better to know all that’s going on”

“I guess…” He gave a thoughtful nod, still frowning a little.

I stared at him, debating if I should tell him that I was mostly glad that I got the chance to know him better and that our little ‘adventure’ had forced us together and brought us closer.

“You look a bit worried over there” I teased him instead, trying to lighten the mood. “I didn’t know you cared”

He had looked away, absently watching a spot on the wall, but his eyes found mine. Slowly, I saw his expression change from concern to confusion and settle on relief. Noticing this, I offered him my hand. He took it without hesitation and intertwined his fingers with mine.

“What? It’s not like I wanted you to die, Henderson” He showed me a wide grin. “I don’t hate you _that_ much”


End file.
